


Venting with Vodka

by Jellybean96



Series: 25 Days of Skyeward [15]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: 25 Days of Skyeward, Christmas, Drinking, F/M, Grant's a bartender
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-16
Updated: 2017-12-16
Packaged: 2019-02-15 10:57:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13029591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jellybean96/pseuds/Jellybean96
Summary: This is definitely not what Grant signed up for when he first applied for this job





	Venting with Vodka

**Author's Note:**

> Hey babes! Little late on the uploading here today, but I've had a pretty busy day and haven't been able to upload until now. This one was pretty fun to write. I know I've said that for a lot of them, but it's true. These were all pretty fun to write. :)
> 
> The prompt I found for this one was "I work as a bartender and you're here at 3 am on Christmas Eve taking shots because you got dumped and I really just wanna go home and sleep but now you're crying and I feel bad". I didn't quite stay on topic here, I don't think, but it's still good. :)
> 
> Enjoy!

"You get stuck with the graveyard shift again this year, man?"

Grant sighs and nods his head. "Yeah. Tomorrow too. But it's not like I have anything better to do right now."

The man laughs quietly and nods. "Yeah, I guess that's true. You working again for the New Year?"

Grant shakes his head, swiping a washcloth across the bar top. "Not till after. Guess my boss figured I could use a few days off after this shift. I'm just glad I don't have to train the new guy. I hate training new people."

The man laughs again. "Right. Well I have to get going, but I guess I'll see you in a few weeks."

Grant nods at him. "Yeah, of course. See you then."

Grant watches as the man leaves, the door to the bar swinging closed behind him, and then turns his attention on closing down the bar as much as he can in that moment. There's only so much he can do because people like to trickle in during the late hours of the night/early hours of the morning for a quick drink before heading back out.

He's in the backroom doing inventory when he hears the door open and close the cliché bell above the door that his boss insisted on getting chiming, signaling a new customer.

"I'll be right with you," he calls over his shoulder, hoping his voice reaches the customer. He finishes counting the items in front of him before setting his clipboard aside and making his way back out to the main area of the bar.

"Can I get you something?" Grant asks cautiously when he steps out of the back room, slowly approaching the figure sitting at the bar. Their head is down on their arms against the bar top, dark brown locks spread out around them.

The figure shifts a little as a groan is released.

Grant sighs. "If you're not going to order anything, I'm going to have to ask you to leave. We're going to be closing in about an hour."

He gets a muffled response that has him furrowing his brows.

"I'm sorry. I didn't understand anything that you just said."

The figure lifts their head and his breath catches in his throat at the sight before him. The young woman's dark eyes are puffy and bloodshot, smear lines on her face that he assumes is from tears running through whatever makeup she's wearing.

"I said get me your strongest drink. Straight up. And not in a glass. Just give me the whole damn bottle."

He nods his head at her request. "Right. Of course." He turns around to the shelves behind him and grabs one of the bottles of liquor. Normally he doesn't just give the bottles of liquor straight over to the customers, but there's something about this woman that has him completely straying from the norm. And it's not like there's anyone else in the bar to complain or point it out to him.

"Here," he says, setting the bottle on the wooden bar top and sliding it closer to her.

The woman looks at the label on the bottle and lets out a sigh. "Vodka. Perfect. You read my mind." She grabs holds of the bottle and pulls the cap out of it, bringing the rim to her lips and tilting her head back.

Grant just watches as this woman downs the drink in her hand. He's racking his mind, trying to think of a reason why she might be acting this way. But nothing comes to his mind.

The bottle slamming back onto the bar top pulls his head out of his thoughts.

"You…are my new hero," the woman tells him with a bit of a slur. She can't be that drunk already.

"How's that?" he asks her.

She silently gestures to the bottle before taking another long swig.

Grant nods his head in understanding. "Ah, right." He takes a deep breath and leans back against the counter behind him, crossing his arms across his chest. "So, what brings you to a bar at three am on Christmas Eve?"

"I didn't realize it was in a bartender's job description to ask personal questions," she snaps at him. A beat later she lets out a sigh. "I'm sorry. You have done absolutely nothing wrong here and I'm taking out my pain on you." She takes another swig from the bottle.

"If you don't mind me asking, but uh, why are you in pain? Does it have anything to do with why you're here at three am downing that vodka like you've been in the desert for days and finally found water?"

He curses himself immediately for asking the question as soon as it comes out of his mouth. Why does he always have to get invested in people's problems when he already has enough of his own to deal with? Especially on Christmas Eve when all he wants to do is go home and sleep? But maybe this time it won't be as bad.

"Four years. Four and a half freaking years we were together. And now he just ends things like that. Out of nowhere and completely unexpected. Christmas was supposed to be magical and now it's tainted by his stupid face and his stupid words and his stupid everything and I hate him." She chokes on a sob and brings the vodka bottle back to her lips.

Grant sighs. This is definitely not going to be any different. "I'm sure he had his reasons and none of it was your fault," he tries.

Her eyes go wide. "Excuse me? You don't even know him and you're going to side with him?"

Okay. Obviously the wrong thing to say in this situation.

"Look, I'm sorry if I said something to offend you. I really didn't mean it that way."

She sighs and slumps down in her seat. "You didn't. I'm sorry. I'm just…really emotional right now." She pulls her lips in tight for a quick moment before sputtering and covering her hand with her mouth as tears slowly start to fall from her eyes.

Grant frowns, shifting slightly on his feet. This is not at all what he signed up for when he took this job. Sure, he's had to deal with a few drunks from time to time, and some of them are criers, but he's never had to deal with something like this.

"I'm uh, I'm sorry you have to go through this," he says awkwardly.

She breathes in deeply as she wipes the tears off of her face. "Thanks. Geez, I thought I was done crying. But I guess the break up messed me up a whole lot more than I thought."

"Well it's his loss," he says, trying to appease the woman.

"You don't even know me," she retorts.

He shrugs. "Maybe not. But if you're this broken up about it then you obviously cared a lot about him. Any guy would be lucky to have someone care about him so much."

For the first time that night he sees a genuine smile cross her lips. Even if it is a tiny one.

"Well thank you." She shifts on her seat and takes a deep breath. "So, you know my pathetic reason why I'm here at three am, so now it's your turn. What has a man like you working in a bar on Christmas Eve? Nothing better to do?"

He shrugs his shoulders, pushing off the counter and stepping forward to lean against the bar top. "I've never really felt the Christmas spirit. Don't have too many good memories from it."

"Well that sucks. The last four Christmases for me were pretty great, but now I hate this time of year again. For the obvious reason. Who the hell dumps somebody right before Christmas?" She takes another long swig from the bottle.

Without saying a word, Grant reaches underneath the bar and pulls out a glass, grabbing the bottle of alcohol and pouring some into the glass. He sets the bottle back on the counter and raises his glass. "To better Christmases going forward," he says.

The woman across from him raises the nearly empty bottle of vodka and taps against the rim of his glass. "May our lives start to suck less."

They both give each other a small smile before downing their respective drinks.

"So, I feel like I should know the name of the man who let me down an entire bottle of vodka on my own and vent about how much I hate my ex."

He smiles again. "My name's Grant. And you? I feel like I should know the name of the woman I just let down an entire bottle of vodka and vent her problems to me."

She smiles back at him. "Skye."

"Nice to meet you, Skye. And hey, if you ever need to vent about anything else, I'm usually here most days or nights."

"Even tomorrow?" she asks him curiously.

He nods. "Yes, even tomorrow. And then I'm off until after the New Year."

"Wow. Do you tend to work a lot, then?"

He shrugs. "A fair amount. It's not like I have much else occupying my time."

"Mm. I know how that goes. Other than my job I don't have much else to keep me busy anymore. Well, I had a relationship, but now all I have is my job." She takes another swig from the bottle in front of her, her eyes glancing at the room around her.

"And me."

Her eyes whip back toward him. "What?"

"I know it may be pretty cliché, confiding in your bartender, but I meant what I just said, I'm here most days if you ever want to talk."

She gives him a small smile. "Thanks. I may just have to take you up on that offer."

He smiles back at her. "I'm looking forward to it."

**Author's Note:**

> So? What did you think? Let me know in a review down below. I'd love to hear your thoughts.
> 
> Until next time,  
> Jellybean96 out!


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